Welcome to Heal Yourself. Change Your Life. I’m Brandy Gillmore, and what I’m most known for is helping people to create radical transformations, and even demonstrating the power of the mind and self-healing under medical equipment so you can see the results. And my work has even been published in a medical journal because it’s truly incredible what we are all capable of when we understand our own minds at a deeper level.

So whether you’re new to this work or you’ve been studying the power of the mind for many years, I love that you are here. I love that we’re on this incredible journey together, and I look forward to sharing breakthrough information with you. That said, on this podcast, I’ll share two types of episodes.

First, self-healing episodes where I share key insights from working with live volunteers. And the second type are where I answer questions from the audience. That said, if you’d like to volunteer or submit a question, come visit me at BrandyGillmore.com. On that note, let’s dive in

You know, something that always surprises me is this, is that any time I talk about the side effects of meditation, there’s always a lot of practitioners who reach out who say, “Please don’t tell people that there are side effects to meditation.” Because they always say things like they’re, it, it’s going to turn people away from meditation, and I don’t see it like that.

Instead, I see it like this. I feel like the more people are empowered and understand the mind, the more that everybody can get results in their life from healing and transformation and happiness and love, connection, all of the things, because our minds are so incredible. Now, I want to break this down even more to share with you some specifics so you can see it and really understand it for yourself.

Because I can tell you in my own life, the more that I’ve been able to understand the mind, that is what has enabled me to radically heal myself, change my life, and also show results under medical equipment so you can actually see the power of the mind. Now let me explain real quick. A way to think about it is like this.

Like in my own work, one of the things that really helped me understand healing was multiple personality disorder. The research that showed that people with different personalities could have different pain and illness in a different personality, meaning that one personality could have one illness or pain and a completely different personality could have a completely different illness or pain.

And you hear me talk about all of the time, there was even a study of a woman who was medically blind in some personalities and not in others. Now, my point is, is I’ve been able to show the power of the mind under medical equipment and even in my own research, and in my own work, and in my own book I share with people if you go into the negative, it can have a negative effect.

It’s like if you go into, sit with stress or negative emotions, those can impact you. So it’s not about speaking poorly about meditation either. It’s that every single thing that we do in life we should know what’s good and what’s not good. Like riding a bike, we know that there’s dangers and y- you know, wear a helmet, etcetera.

You’re driving a car, wear a seatbelt. Like all of the things. And so meditation should be no different in that we understand that, yes, there can be benefits, and yes, there can be side effects. And a lot of people don’t know that there are side effects, and so they end up stuck in those. And that was my own journey, and that’s, I, last week, on last week’s episode, I talked about that very thing.

I shared some of the side effects that I experienced with meditation that I wish I had known, of course, when I was healing myself, when I was 16 plus years ago, so a long time ago. But I didn’t realize that there were side effects, and so I then had to fix my mind from these side effects. And I just think that the more that every single person understands that there can be benefits and there can be side effects, then it’s empowering.

And again, in my own work, I tell people You shift your mind towards the positive, it can have positive benefits. If you sit in the negative, get stuck, r- increase a lot of negativity, sit with all the negativity, it can have negative side effects. So it’s not about speaking poorly about any type of method at all.

It’s about mastery and understanding the mind, and everybody feeling empowered to really heal and transform. Now, I want to share with you some practical, easy to understand examples on how meditation can be bad for your mind or have negative side effects that I’ve experienced or have worked with people who have experienced in their life, so you understand it.

Now, a simple thing to think about is like this. Some people might wonder, how is it possible for something that feels good to have negative side effects? Simple way to think about it is like this. People get addicted to social media. It has a dopamine hit, likes, stuff like that. People can get addicted to their cell phones.

They like, connect, it feels good. There can be dopamine hits. Meditation has dopamine hits. So what can happen is there’s gonna be a spike of dopamine. There is. I think there’s some studies show about a 65% increase, different studies, etcetera, etcetera. But my point is, is that anything that our brain does repeatedly that has a dopamine hit to it, a dopamine spike, we’ve seen.

So you think about social media, you think, “Ah, it seems harmless. It’s just social media. How can somebody get addicted to social media?” And yet we see it all the time. Now, this is a trickier part is this, is that if you think about meditation for a moment, and you think about so often what happens is people might feel stressed by life.

And then what can happen is they go, “Okay, well, if I just go into meditation, dopamine. It feels better. It feels good.” A- and so me personally, I loved meditation. It felt so good, and especially I was in pain and life was stressful. So the problem is, is that the more you program your mind to check out and check out and check out and get dopamine, the more that it wants to do that exact thing.

And so ultimately, not only was it, it wasn’t like a, a, a feeling of like, “Oh, I’m feening for having to meditate.” No, I, I loved it. But what initial- what eventually happened was a feeling of disconnect from everything, and I– if, if you ask me how I see this show up, I see women who have been meditating for a long period of time who feel completely disconnected from their husband or the ones that they love.

See it all the time. What happens is that ultimately they have had this feeling of just feeling very, very… like meditating, meditating, meditating, and then they’re not present, and then they can’t create that connection I’ve had people say they would rather meditate than be with their spouse, and they yet simultaneously they feel unloved.

They have a hard time being present and staying present to create connection, so they lose that social ability to connect, and they just feel like, “I just want to meditate.” And they feel more spiritual doing it, and they feel more aware and, and they feel like they’re, they’re, you know, connecting with spirituality or divine, so it feels more important, and it feels spiritual, and it feels connected, and it feels like the, the dopamine.

And the problem, the side effect is they feel very, very alone or disconnected in their relationships. And I’ve seen that all of the time, all of the time, unfortunately. Um, another thing that I see, another example, I’ll see people who maybe wake up first thing in the morning. They wake up, meditate. Then what happens after that?

Everything feels loud or chaotic to them. A simple way to think about it is like this, is that imagine somebody who… Imagine if you go to the spa. You go to the day spa, you get a massage, you feel fantastic, and then after you leave the day spa, you go straight to a nightclub. Okay, how would that feel?

Jolting, a lot, overwhelming maybe. And so what I’ve seen happen is people have meditative practices in the morning, and then they’re feeling aggravated with their kids for being alive, basically, for… And they don’t want to, so then they feel guilty, and they feel bad, and they feel agitated, and their husband’s making noise or their wife, whoever, their wife’s making noise, whoever it is.

And they’re feeling frustrated or agitated or like they just want to crawl out of their skin and get away. So the very relationships and connection. If you ask me how often I’ve seen this, common. And so the, the problem is, is that it feels good. It feels good to meditate. It feels, and it feels good to connect, d- to disconnect from stress.

So it’s like, basically when s- like let’s say somebody’s really, really, really stressed, and they say, “Okay, I’m just gonna meditate.” And they’re really, really stressed, and they’re just gonna meditate. And really, really stressed, and they’re just gonna meditate. And that feeling of disconnect starts to stick with them.

And so it’s like, “Well, wait a second, but I feel better.” Well, yes, but creating the real change is better. And so a lot of times what I would have somebody do is instead of meditating and training their brain to run and avoid it, instead get very acutely aware of what feels off, what feels hard, what feels stressful, what feels negative.

Let’s change that. Instead, feel alive. Instead of feeling like you want to run from your relationship, fall in love in your relationship. You know? Create the fun. Banter. Like sometimes that’s exactly what I’ll have people do is say, “How do you banter in the moment? How do you turn, you know, just a regular moment into like laughing and connectedness?”

Because when you can just be present and be fun and be silly, that right there creates a connectedness. So I’ve had people before where they’ve had a household that felt very disconnected or very stressful or very chaotic And then where I’ve worked with them and had them start l- getting a sense of humor in, in the chaos, in the fun, in the playfulness of, “Hey, guys.”

Like, whatever it is, like having fun, listening to music first thing in the morning where the whole family is, like, listening to music, feeling excited, feeling love, feeling connection, it becomes a whole different feeling, so then they don’t wanna check out. Instead, it’s like, it’s creating a fun connection.

So my point is, is that I’m not saying don’t meditate. Maybe meditate, maybe don’t meditate. But what I’m saying is, is that pay attention what your mind wants, what your mind is doing, and why it wants to do that. So, so that’s what I’m saying. Now, by the way, sometimes when I say meditation, people get that, uh, mixed up with visualization.

Now, as far as visualization, I think visualization is fantastic. Yes, visualize. It’s intentional. So notice the difference. If you go to visualize something, what are you wanting to do? You’re wanting to create your life even better. So maybe somebody, maybe you visualize and you see yourself walking around and you’re happy, or you’re having a loving relationship, and it’s connecting, and it’s sweet, and whatever it is.

Or you’re going here or there, or you’re, you’re visualizing something that you want, right? So it’s not an avoidance to life. It’s a, it’s a wanting to create an even better life. So that’s n- that’s much different than saying, “I just wanna check out. Ugh, life is stressful.” Uh, the avoidance, right? And so it’s, it’s a lot different.

And, and by the way, you know, a- again, part of the reason that I’m going deeper with this is because if you ask me from last week when I shared side effects, I just feel like people should know. And again, with my own work, I tell people, “You go into the negative and you sit there, there can be side effects.

It can negatively impact you.” So this is not negative about meditation. It’s understanding what are its limitations, what is it good for, what is it not, why or what are the side effects. And, and by the way, one of the things that kind of, like, blows my mind about this is a lot of times these are the same people who have, who have been upset that big pharma, so to speak, hid side effects of this or that.

So they’re outraged about that, but then when it comes to meditation, they’re like, “Don’t tell people there’s side effects.” I’m like, wait a second. It’s not gonna turn people off. It’s going to gain trust. It’s going to gain trust. It’s going to empower people. Everybody should know. And then if everybody knows, then they just know how to do it better, or do it informed, or get results in their life.

And, and so, uh, a- and so that was the reason that I shared last week is it’s about understanding the mind and how it works and, and getting good with it, and understanding, you know, just a deeper level of understanding. And so, and so ultimately, that’s what I want to share is exactly that. And, and, and I don’t want anybody to be upset about there’s side effects.

Yes, they’re, they’re medically proven. And by the way, on that note, um, somebody else asked for a list. They’re like, “Are you sure there’s really side effects to medit- Can you share a list of positive and benefits and all of these things?” So yes, so in the show notes, I’m gonna share an entire, there’s an entire list of documented benefits, benefits, benefits, benefits, benefits, and also potential side effects.

And, and I would say, to be, uh, honest, I would say that I’ve seen more side effects than what is there. Uh, but either, either way, so there’s a, there’s a list so you can see them, because can there be benefits? Sure. I mean, if somebody’s feeling stressed And then they’re going calm. Could that help negative emotions?

Yes, there can be benefits, and there can be side effects, and both are true. A- and so, I, I mean, if somebody’s stressed out every day, I mean, let’s be honest, somebody’s really, really, really stressed and really, really stressed every day, can that affect their health? Yes. So if they’re feeling calm and more relaxed, could that produce benefits?

Absolutely. Now, do I think that there’s a better way to do it? I do, and to each their own. I like… Personally, I like being very specific with the mind. So I meditated for years and years and years, and it felt helpful at the time. I loved it. Um, it didn’t, it didn’t heal my body. It didn’t change my life the way I wanted, and, and, and it didn’t heal.

So when I found the research on multiple personality disorder, that is what changed m- my life, is understanding that and then understanding how to get my mind to do that and the neuroscience behind that and understanding how to create that change. So that’s what was pivotal, and I went from being somebody who had zero energy and felt fatigued and drained all of the time to now having a ton of energy and feeling great and fantastic and running and healing and, and being out of pain and out of a wheelchair and, and cane and walker and all of those things.

So it radically changed my life and, um, a- and just… So, so understanding the mind. Now, if you think about it for a moment, um, that’s the biggest thing that I want to share with you. So the additional insight is, I would say this, is that… is also to understand that creating fun in the moment can be powerful.

And so if you are experiencing stress in your life, what would it look like to change that? To laugh, to play? Now, by the way, if you ask my team, if you ask people around me, all of the time, even if things are busy, I am constantly laughing about silly stuff, ridiculous stuff. Like, I’m always throwing in a, a random comment, a, a silly, ridiculous statement, this, that.

Especially if there’s a lot going on, I, I- I’m laughing through it and going, “Oh, okay, let’s do the…” Like, it’s just, it’s silliness. It is playfulness, and it’s fun. And so that to me, it, it, it, it just makes life fun even when it’s busy. And so, so that could be something simple that you do. And so just food for thought on On that, because if you think about it for a moment, e- even meditation that’s great can have that side effect if it’s not a visualization, but it’s a checking out.

Now, by the way, on another note, if you ask me how often, uh, like, a- another example that I can give you of where I’ve seen people meditation go sideways is this, is I’ve seen people who, w- w- are giving a meditation for, like, an entire yoga room, if you will, and they don’t necessarily know how the mind works, and so that, so, so in other words, they’re, they’re wanting to do something great.

So, like, for example, um, I’ve seen somebody with an entire room of people try to help with getting rid of stress, and at the end, a lot of people felt dizzy or lightheaded, and because of this, and I’ll show you. Um, there was a part during the meditation that said something like this: “Take all of your stresses and bunch them together and wind them up and wind them up and wind them up and wind them up, and whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, and throw them to the moon and back.”

Like, or throw them to the moon, right? That was, so it was whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, wind it up, and throw it to the moon. Now, this is what happens. A couple, some people, okay, got the whoosh, whoosh. They felt a spinny feeling from all the negative, and it gets programmed in. So I’ve seen people who have listened to meditations who have had things like that that have made their minds spin or made them feel nauseous or made them feel dizzy or headaches or whatnot.

So I’ve seen that. Or I’ve seen people put all their fears and stuff, and they throw it to the moon. Then what happens? Well, then I’ve seen them repeatedly have triggers of the moon because the moon becomes the constant reminder. So they see the moon, and all their stress was put on the moon. My point is, is what?

Just understanding your mind, understanding how it works. And so again, it’s not negative towards meditation, uh, uh, everything. It’s about understanding how to get real results, and the best way to get real results is to create real, real change, is to address whatever’s going on. We all have patterns, so if we ground this in psychology for a moment, you know, uh, if we look at repetition compulsion, reenactments, attachment theory, um, we can see that, like, like let’s say somebody has a pattern of feeling criticized and, or self-criticism, pattern of self-criticism.

Instead of just meditating, we could really, really, really change that. Or, uh, somebody, you know, the unfortunate example, you know, you hear me talk about all the time, time, unfortunately a woman with an abusive father can leave him and find the abusive boyfriend, boss, spouse, etcetera, etcetera. That pattern can continue because patterns can repeat, or somebody can have a pattern of rejection, and that pattern can repeat, or a pattern of abandonment, and that pattern can repeat, or a pattern of hurt, or a pattern of frustration.

So these patterns of one frustrating thing after another, after another, after another. And instead of just checking out, when we start to realize these patterns that are going on at a deeper level, that’s when we create real healing. That’s when we create real transformation. And so, and, and, and so we need that transformation, and so the example that you hear me use all the time is that unfortunately, if we look at Steve Jobs, so much respect, so much respect for him, and You can see that he meditated most of his life, since he was a teenager, and mind-expanding.

Okay? And also, it didn’t heal him, and it didn’t change his life, uh, the way with his emotional patterns. Now, could he get possibly a- additional ideas and whatnot from it? There can be benefits from meditation, depending upon what and how and, and, and all of that. So could there be? There could. And of course, there are also pe- plenty of people who’ve meditated who feel more and more and more stuck, and I see that all the time.

So it’s, it’s really about what are you clearing from your mind? What are you changing? So if we go back to, to the Steve Jobs example, if you, if you look at maybe his public appearance, you see that he didn’t, he didn’t always feel like the happiest person. We’ll say it like that. And so did it really change his emotional patterns?

A- and so my point is, is just thinking about the depth of even just going beyond meditation, creating the real change. But either way, the point is just this. It’s just simply why am I doing this? One, I want to give you real grounded understanding. And also, I don’t want practitioners to be so upset about talking about the side effects because when we know that there are side effects and we just…

And it’s not negative about it, it’s just understanding about it. So then we can talk about it and we can say, “Yeah, there can be benefits, and yeah, there can be side effects.” And even in the last episode that I did last week, I said exactly that. I said, you know, um, that it’s like driving a car, that driving a car can be great and there’s things to watch out for.

And so both can be true in anything that we do. And so, so the thing of it is, is understand… That when it all comes down to it, understanding the mind and creating the real change that you want to d- you, you want to change. What is that for you? And getting very specific with your mind That’s key. So just food for thought, and even in being in the present, if you’re feeling stress, maybe you look at what is causing that, and you create that real change and really address it instead of training your mind to check out.

What, what, what creates that change? Because when you create that change, it’s life-changing, health-changing. All right. So those are the insights that I want to share today. So food for thought. By the way, that list is in the show notes for benefits of meditation and some side effects and, and some things.

You can see the research on it. Um, and also there is a free training in the show notes, so if you’re somebody who’s really wanting to understand mind body healing and how it works and how I’ve been able to get these results, uh, there’s a link there for a free training. And as always, I want to ask you, please do take just a quick moment to hit the share button on this episode.

You know, share it with somebody you love, somebody you care about, or somebody you don’t even know, because the more that every single person in our world really understands the power of the mind, the more that every single person can live a happy, healthy, wonderful, fantastic, incredible life and feel empowered.

And so that is my hope, of course, for you and for everybody. And so on that note, please do take just a quick moment to hit the share button on this episode, and please do make a point to have an incredible rest of your day. I look forward to connecting with you on the next episode. We’ll see you there.

Thank you for listening to Heal Yourself. Change Your Life. If you’d like to become a volunteer or join our members area, you can do so by visiting BrandyGillmore.com. Also, please remember to be responsible with your health. This podcast is for inspirational purposes only. You won’t want to make any changes to your medication or to your medical care based on this podcast, nor would you ever want to avoid seeing your doctor.

Instead, it’s best to see your doctor regularly, keep them informed on what you are doing, and you could make it your goal to blow their minds with what you are capable of with your mind. Thank you